Lesson Overview This lesson is a follow up on plate tectonics (from the day before) with a focus on what happens to the continents as they are moving today.
Objectives Students will define plate boundaries. Students will locate plate boundaries on a map by knowing what landscape features they are related to. Students will be able to define earthquakes and volcanoes. Materials
Videos about earthquakes and volcanoes
Whiteboard
Dry erase markers
Map of the world
Computers along edge of classroom with internet access
Poster board
Markers/colored pencils
Links to Resources Refer to visual aids section
Safety Issues Students will practice basic classroom safety.
Instruction In this lesson I will discuss the physical features of landscapes caused by earthquakes and volcanoes. I will also relate volcanoes and earthquakes to the movement of the plates. The students will work in teams (Earthquakes vs. Volcanoes) to complete a “biography” sheet. The sheet consists of “who what when why where how” and the students can use available resources to complete the task.
Opening I will begin the lesson with videos about earthquakes and volcanoes. We will first discuss who felt the earthquake this past summer, and tell stories about where we were if we felt it and how we knew it was an earthquake. “Has anyone felt any other earthquakes? Seen any volcanoes? Where were you?” and so forth. After this discussion we will go back to the videos we saw and notice where they were filmed. We will put magnets on the world map where the videos were filmed. (5 minutes)
Learning Activities After the magnet activity is finished, we will begin the team activity. We will discuss what makes California so prone to earthquakes. Also why do we think of Hawaii as having volcanoes so often. I will prompt the students with similar questions to activate prior knowledge. After I will split the class into the two sides in order to complete our “Natural Disaster Competition”. They will assign captains to complete the coin toss, and who wins gets to pick their natural disaster first. The students will design a sheet of the 6 Question Words, with questions that they create that pertain to their natural disaster. They will answer the questions in teams of 2 (each team answers one question) and come back together to create a poster that answers the questions. They are allowed to use any craft supplies to create the poster, and are encouraged to be creative. (45-50 minutes)
Closing I will hang up the two posters and read them to the class. I will ask each team questions, and the team with the most creative and informative poster will get two bonus points on the test. The posters will remain on the walls (except during the test) for the remainder of the year. (5 minutes)
Assessment Creating the posters is a formative assessment. Homework The teams will complete their posters in class, so no homework will be given.
Unit: Earth’s Interior
Title: Moving Mountains
Lesson Overview
This lesson is a follow up on plate tectonics (from the day before) with a focus on what happens to the continents as they are moving today.
Objectives
Students will define plate boundaries.
Students will locate plate boundaries on a map by knowing what landscape features they are related to.
Students will be able to define earthquakes and volcanoes.
Materials
- Videos about earthquakes and volcanoes
- Whiteboard
- Dry erase markers
- Map of the world
- Computers along edge of classroom with internet access
- Poster board
- Markers/colored pencils
Links to ResourcesRefer to visual aids section
Safety Issues
Students will practice basic classroom safety.
Instruction
In this lesson I will discuss the physical features of landscapes caused by earthquakes and volcanoes. I will also relate volcanoes and earthquakes to the movement of the plates. The students will work in teams (Earthquakes vs. Volcanoes) to complete a “biography” sheet. The sheet consists of “who what when why where how” and the students can use available resources to complete the task.
Opening
I will begin the lesson with videos about earthquakes and volcanoes. We will first discuss who felt the earthquake this past summer, and tell stories about where we were if we felt it and how we knew it was an earthquake. “Has anyone felt any other earthquakes? Seen any volcanoes? Where were you?” and so forth. After this discussion we will go back to the videos we saw and notice where they were filmed. We will put magnets on the world map where the videos were filmed.
(5 minutes)
Learning Activities
After the magnet activity is finished, we will begin the team activity. We will discuss what makes California so prone to earthquakes. Also why do we think of Hawaii as having volcanoes so often. I will prompt the students with similar questions to activate prior knowledge. After I will split the class into the two sides in order to complete our “Natural Disaster Competition”. They will assign captains to complete the coin toss, and who wins gets to pick their natural disaster first. The students will design a sheet of the 6 Question Words, with questions that they create that pertain to their natural disaster. They will answer the questions in teams of 2 (each team answers one question) and come back together to create a poster that answers the questions. They are allowed to use any craft supplies to create the poster, and are encouraged to be creative.
(45-50 minutes)
Closing
I will hang up the two posters and read them to the class. I will ask each team questions, and the team with the most creative and informative poster will get two bonus points on the test. The posters will remain on the walls (except during the test) for the remainder of the year.
(5 minutes)
Assessment
Creating the posters is a formative assessment.
Homework
The teams will complete their posters in class, so no homework will be given.
Additional Notes
Back